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Sara Berenguer

In the summer of 2011 the Institute received a collection of the papers of Sara Berenguer Lahosa (1919-2010) and Jesús Guillén Bertolín (1913-1999) from their children in Montady, near Béziers. Sara and Jesús were active members of the Spanish anarchist movement, both in Spain and in exile. Jesús was a talented artist who illustrated the books written by Sara. He fought in the Spanish Civil War and escaped to France after the defeat of the Republic. During the occupation of France he was active, together with Sara, in the reorganization of the Spanish libertarian movement. He was secretary of the Regional 1 (Montpellier) of the Movimiento Libertario Español – Confederación Nacional del Trabajo from 1945 till 1946. Sara was a member of the Spanish Free Women (Mujeres Libres) during the war and fulfilled several functions in revolutionary organizations. After the war in exile in France, she collaborated with several libertarian press publications.

The collection of these papers contains their correspondence. The main part consists of letters received by Sara. There is also a file with letters received by the Spanish anarchist José Pomar Peña, partly from Ramón Álvarez, whose personal papers are also held at the Institute. In addition, there is an important file with materials that Jesús collected in the year that he served as secretary of the regional federation of the MLE-CNT in Montpellier. As far as the CNT in general is concerned, the papers contain texts, minutes, reports, circular letters, and other documentation both from the period in exile in France and of the legal CNT in Spain from the transition to democracy until the eighties, including documents on the Fifth Congress. There are a few materials from the clandestine CNT in Spain. There is also material on the Confederación General del Trabajo, the Juventudes Libertarias in exile, and a small file with photocopies on cultural work in the 26 División (formerly Columna Durruti) of the Spanish popular army during the Spanish Civil War.